The cabinet has decided that a national crisis organization will be set up to improve the reception of asylum seekers. The organization will be coordinated by the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV).
There are several members of government on the team, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and Security and the State Secretary for Asylum and Migration. They meet for the first time tonight.
“We are going to see what needs to be done now to ensure that we no longer see those images from Ter Apel,” said Minister Yesilgöz after the Council of Ministers. “We want to be able to make quick, clear decisions under great time pressure.”
There has been a structural shortage of shelter places for months. The application center in Ter Apel is overcrowded. Yesterday, the Red Cross called the situation there inhumane. People who have been housed in tents of the aid organization are said to be given insufficient food and drink.
High official and political administrative level
This morning, before the start of the Council of Ministers, there was consultation with various mayors. State Secretary Van der Burg then said that it is clear that this is no longer the case. “It is clear that the COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers) can no longer handle it.”
The cabinet now writes in a letter to the House of Representatives that it is necessary from today to decide “temporarily at a high official and political administrative level” how the reception and transfer should be arranged.
A crisis approach was also introduced earlier this year specifically for the reception of Ukrainian refugees. And there was also a temporary crisis structure after the flooding in Limburg.
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